LOXAHATCHEE, Fla. – Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a pair of payments into regulation on Wednesday morning concentrating on animal cruelty in Florida.
The governor signed Dexter’s Legislation and Trooper’s Legislation throughout a information convention in Loxahatchee on Wednesday morning.
Pictured: Gov. Ron DeSantis indicators Dexter’s Legislation and Trooper’s Legislation in Loxahatchee on Might 28, 2025.
Dexter’s Legislation
The backstory:
Dexter’s Legislation will increase punishment for particularly heinous animal cruelty circumstances, and establishes an offender database on the Florida Division of Legislation Enforcement’s web site.
It is named in honor of a rescue canine who was discovered decapitated and dumped in a Pinellas County park shortly after he was adopted.
In February, a jury convicted Domingo Rodriguez of aggravated cruelty to animals and illegal disposal of our bodies of lifeless animals. The decide sentenced him to a little bit greater than a yr in jail and a $500 positive.
Trooper’s Legislation
Trooper’s Legislation makes abandoning an animal throughout a pure catastrophe a third-degree felony, punishable by as much as 5 years in jail and a $10,000 positive.
It is named in honor of a canine discovered deserted by a trooper with the Florida Freeway Patrol forward of Hurricane Milton. The canine was tethered to a fence on I-75 in Tampa.
Trooper the canine on the aspect of I-75 in Tampa earlier than Hurricane Milton.
Trooper’s unique proprietor, Giovanny Aldama Garcia, was charged with aggravated animal cruelty, which is a third-degree felony. Court docket information present he’s at the moment awaiting trial.
What they’re saying:
“Throughout Florida, we have seen horrifying cases of animal cruelty that demand a stronger response from our justice system,” DeSantis stated.
“You have bought that small quantity of people that simply haven’t got the identical primary take care of the pets and these animals that nearly everyone else does, and that may flip very sadistic, as we noticed in Dexter’s case,” DeSantis continued.
Pictured: Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at a information convention in Loxahatchee on Might 28, 2025.
“How somebody treats an animal speaks volumes of their character and your character and your loved ones’s character, and the character of the individuals who rescue animals is past reproach,” Florida Division of Freeway Security and Motor Automobiles Govt Director Dave Kerner stated.
The Supply: This story was written with data from a information convention on Might 28, 2025, together with earlier FOX 13 Information studies.
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